Philadelphia man sentenced in Lower Moreland robbery

COURTHOUSE — A Philadelphia man will be spending the next 2 ½ to five years in prison for his role in a robbery in Lower Moreland in May 2012.

James C. Myers, 29 of the 4200 block of North Darien Street, pleaded guilty to one count of first degree felony robbery in front of Judge William Carpenter on Friday.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on May 19, 2012 at 1:05 p.m. Lower Moreland police responded to the 1400 block of Heaton Hill Road for a report of a robbery in progress. The caller told dispatchers two men, one in a dark hoodie and one with a gray hoodie, fled on foot out of the front door of the home. The victim told police a handgun had been displayed during the course of the robbery.

While police were investigating the robbery, a Jenkintown police officer and his dog attempted track down the suspects, though the search ended shortly after it began.

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Investigators learned that two men knocked on the door and said they had a package for someone. The victim, who thought they pronounced a different name, told the suspects that no one by that name lived there.

The victim opened the door to look at the package. She said one of the suspects made a motion to give the package to her but instead pulled out a gun and pointed it at her stomach. He told her not to scream.

The man with the gun asked the victim, “Where is the (expletive) safe?” He also asked where the security camera was located. The victim said both were in her husband’s office. The second man, who did not have a gun, went into the office and took a computer tower. Both males then fled the home through the front door.

Police watched the surveillance footage, there was a camera outside of the front door, and confirmed the events described by the victim.

The victim’s daughter, who was 10 years old at the time of the robbery, told police the box one of the males was carrying was orange and had the word “Public” written on it. Police also found a piece of paper that was left on the counter. The piece of paper turned out to be a receipt for a large box bought from the Public Storage on the 1200 block of Byberry Road in Philadelphia. Investigators also determined the box described by the victim’s daughter was consistent with the boxes sold from the storage facility.

The manager of the storage facility told police that at 11:55 a.m. on May 19, 2012, three men came in to buy the box. The manager’s description of two of the men was similar to the description provided by the robbery victims. She also said she remembered one of the men paying her with five wet one dollar bills.

Police later submitted the receipt to be checked for finger prints, and the prints came back belonging to Michael Bivans.

Police later made contact with the victim’s son, who said he viewed one the security tape. He said one of the men in the tape looked like a former employee of his father’s furniture store. The son of the victim was able to identify the man as Myers.

On March 14, 2013 U.S. marshals arrested Bivans on an outstanding warrant for the robbery, and Myers was with Bivans when he was arrested. Both were taken into custody and charged.

The victims were shown pictures of Myers, and confirmed he was one of the men who robbed them.